AN emphatic victory by 104 runs over championship rivals St Annes at Vernon Road lifted unbeaten Chorley to second in the Northern Premier League, just six points behind Netherfield whose win at Darwen enabled them to regain first place.

Another vintage display of batting by skipper Roland Horridge and Nigel Heaton who compiled 144 for the third wicket set up a formidable Chorley total of 233-5.

Horridge, currently in superlative form, made 95 and passed 800 runs for the season, while Heaton's 68 took his aggregate to 797.

The St Annes reply ran into early problems as they slumped to 29-4 against excellent bowling by Chorley professional Josh Marquet and Iqbal Patel.

Marquet took a stunning low return catch to dispose of home pro Dave Callaghan for 11 and, though Alan Cotton hit a defiant 41 for St Annes, Chorley were not to be denied 15 points.

Marquet captured the last wicket with six balls to spare to finish with 5- 55, while Patel picked up 3-37.

There was anti-climax, however, at Windsor Park yesterday, where persistent drizzle prevented any play in the scheduled Lancashire Knockout tie against Bolton League side Tonge and Chorley went out of the competition after losing a bowl-out in which one member of the visiting side was the only player to hit the stumps.

ST ANNES 129

CHORLEY 233-5

St Annes 0 pts

Chorley 15

CHORLEY

N Bannister lbw Davies ... 21

T Smith b Davies ... 8

R Horridge b Davies ... 95

N Heaton c Callaghan b Davies ... 68

J Fazackerley b Callaghan ... 21

N Senior not out ... 0

I Patel not out ... 0

Extras ... 20

Total (5 wkts) ... 233

Bowling: Callaghan 17-5-49-1; J Davies 11.3-2-53-4; D Taylor 6-0-22-0; R Banks 3-0-18-0; A Darlington 9-0-31-0; A Cotton 11-0-46-0

ST ANNES

A Darlington c Senior b Marquet ... 5

G Evans c Senior b Patel ... 7

Callaghan c and b Marquet ... 11

J Davies lbw Marquet ... 3

R Bradley lbw Patel ... 8

A Cotton c Bannister b Patel ... 41

S Bickerdike c Senior b Smith ... 21

N Bradley lbw Fazackerley ... 9

D Whalley lbw Marquet ... 16

D Taylor c Horridge b Marquet ... 1

R Banks not out ... 0

Extras ... 7

Total (all out) ... 129

Bowling: Marquet 19-2-55-5; I Patel 17-5-37-3; I Mawdsley 5-1-15-0; T Smith 3-1-9-1; I Oakes 2-1-4-0; J Fazackerley 2-1-2-1